Tero Isokauppila

He’s a thirteenth generation farmer who grew up foraging mushrooms and other wild foods on his family’s farm in Finland.

From this passion and curiosity as a child, he went on to pursue a degree in Chemistry, Business, and a Certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition at Cornell University.

But his passion for mushrooms, superfoods, and improving health didn’t end there.

My guest speaker, Tero Isokauppila, later went on to publish two best-selling books, Healing Mushrooms and Santa Sold Shrooms, and he founded a company you may have heard of called Four Sigmatic, which delivers Nordic wellness to the US.

As you’ll learn about in this podcast episode, Tero is an expert in all things mushrooms, superfoods, and adaptogens.

And I’m not referring to culinary mushrooms either.

I’m talking about adaptogenic mushrooms that have the power to restore balance and health in the body.

Wondering how that’s possible?

That’s exactly what Tero and I get into in this episode, among other topics.

So you’ll discover what an adaptogen is, the foods that fall under this category, and how certain mushrooms have medicinal properties.

Tero also discusses the challenges he found when sourcing his high-quality mushrooms and why up to 75% of reishi supplements on the market aren’t actually made of reishi mushrooms.

On top of that, you’ll also discover that mushrooms are much closer to humans than plants and that their microbiome is so beneficial to humans.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what we chat about in this episode.

If you’re not familiar with Tero, on top of founding Four Sigmatic and writing two best-selling books, he’s also been chosen twice as one of the world’s Top 50 Food Activists.

He’s been featured in Time, Forbes, GQ, Harper’s Bazaar, Bon Appétit, Vogue and more and he’s also been a guest speaker at Wanderlust, Summit Series, Google, WME-IMG, and the Fast Company Innovation Festival.

With such an impressive background, I couldn’t wait to get him on the show and I’m just as excited to share everything we talked about in this episode.

Speaking of that, here’s a small list of some of the topics we dive into:

Tero shares his background as a thirteenth generation farmer in Finland

How the farming industry changed in Finland and when this shift happened

How Tero found himself living in the United States

Why Tero became interested in mushrooms and superfoods

What he found fascinating within the body

Why he chose the name Four Sigmatic for his company and what this really means

Some of the top researched foods

What are the health benefits of mushrooms

Why mushrooms are actually closer to human DNA than plant DNA

The difference between conventional culinary mushrooms and the ones Tero uses and studies

The mushroom microbiome and how this is beneficial to humans

Are at-home mushroom grow kits a good idea?

What to consider when choosing mushrooms for medicinal purposes

Some key differences between the different types of medicinal mushrooms

What’s the best time to consume these mushrooms?

More about adaptogens, including what that means, foods that meet this criteria, and the types of mushrooms that fall into this category

Why most superfoods aren’t technically adaptogens

Can you have an animal-based adaptogen?

Sourcing the right mushrooms for Four Sigmatic

The two kingdoms we ignore but shouldn’t

The first thing you should work on to improve your overall health

Fiber consumption, including why we need this and when it’s okay to take a break

Magical mushrooms, including legalization, decriminalization, and what else you should know before taking these